


Well there was a time that you let me know

by Cheesecloth



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 01:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21383821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheesecloth/pseuds/Cheesecloth
Summary: Smégol was never meant to fight back and win against Gollum. He was never meant to wrench himself fully free from the Ring.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Well there was a time that you let me know

It wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Smégol was never meant to fight back and _win_ against Gollum. He was never meant to wrench himself fully free from the Ring. 

It was more painful than all the torture that Mordor put him through. It tore through him, lightning hot, like the lava below. 

The extra light in his eyes faded, and he felt himself return. Truly return. Smégol was back. 

But without the Ring’s power, the Ring’s _hold_ on him, he felt his age begin to take its own hold. The pain did not leave. 

He didn’t want it to. He felt he deserved it. It was his first clear thought in a very, very long time. 

Smégol wrenched his eyes from the shaking ground and the lava to see his master, the hobbit Frodo, begin to succumb fully to the Ring. He saw the pull in Frodo’s body, as it went to cradle the Ring like it was _precious_. It was truly anything but precious. 

There was a second light starting to glow in Frodo’s eyes. 

Smégol coughed and gasped. The hot and thick air of the volcano choked him as he tried to scream. 

“Master hobbit! No!” 

Sensing a foe for him and his precious, Frodo backed away, closer to the cliffside. 

The ages were creeping through Smégol’s spine. He did not have much time left. He crumbled into a run and grasped at Frodo’s enclosed hands. 

Sam yelled, but Smégol would not let him deter his mission. He tore the Ring from Frodo, but Frodo dug his nails into Smégol’s hide. 

He had no strength in him left to scream, because he spent his next breath biting the Ring out of Frodo’s hand with his sharpened teeth that made himself nauseous. Smégol pushed Frodo towards Sam, who held him tightly. 

“Mr. Frodo!” 

“Sam,” Smégol rasped, and Sam looked to him in surprise. “Take him from here,” Smégol crawled exhaustedly to the edge of the cliff. A spark from the lava singed him. But he had the Ring at last. It did not poison him again as he’d feared. He was truly free. 

“Hold him tight,” Smégol demanded, and Sam obeyed, weary of Frodo’s erratic behavior. 

“What are you going to do with that Ring, Gollum?” 

“I’m not Gollum,” Smégol whimpered. “I’m free! The precio- the Ring has no power over me now. I am dying, Sam. Go. Go! You must leave,” he begged. “I will destroy it with my dying breath,” Smégol promised. 

And he made good on that promise. His last clear view was Sam nodding in a solemn salute and he dragged a screaming Frodo towards the mouth of the cavern before he fell into the white-hot heat of Mordor. 

He did not need to see the Ring to know it was the true end of it. He felt the familiar evil power of it hiss in agony. 

Smégol’s last, final act was a smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> he was SO close to having, well maybe not a redemption arc, but an arc that ended with Hope, ya know?   
so here I am, wish-fulfillment granted.
> 
> may Hope win and Evil die.


End file.
